To amend Sections 120.01, 120.02, and 120.05 of Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly that temporarily suspended the operation of certain provisions of the Household and Small Flow On-Site Sewage Treatment Systems Law and that enacted temporary provisions regarding that Law by extending the termination of the suspension and temporary law from July 1, 2009, to December 31, 2009, and to declare an emergency.

Section 1.  That Sections 120.01, 120.02, and 120.05 of Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly be amended to read as follows:

Sec.  120.01. During the period beginning July 1, 2007, and expiring July 1 December 31, 2009, the operation of sections 3718.02, 3718.05, 3718.06, 3718.07, 3718.08, 3718.09, 3718.10, 3718.99, and 6111.441 of the Revised Code is suspended. On July 1 December 31, 2009, sections 3718.02, 3718.05, 3718.06, 3718.07, 3718.08, 3718.09, 3718.10, 3718.99, and 6111.441 of the Revised Code, in either their present form or as they are later amended, again become operational.

Sec. 120.02. (A)(1) Effective July 2, 2007, the rules adopted by the Public Health Council under section 3718.02 of the Revised Code that took effect on January 1, 2007, are not valid. Not later than July 2, 2007, the Director of Health shall adopt rules that are identical to the rules adopted by the Public Health Council that were in effect prior to January 1, 2007, and were codified in Chapter 3701-29 of the Administrative Code, except the rules in that chapter that established requirements for separation distances from a water table and soil absorption requirements.

At the same time that the Public Health Council adopts the rules required under division (A)(2) of this section, the Director shall rescind the rules adopted under this division.

The adoption and rescission of rules under this division are not subject to section 119.03 of the Revised Code. However, the Director shall file the adoption and rescission of the rules in accordance with section 119.04 of the Revised Code. Upon that filing, the adoption and rescission of the rules take immediate effect.

(2) Not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section as enacted by Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly and notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Public Health Council shall rescind rules adopted by the Council under section 3718.02 of the Revised Code, that took effect on January 1, 2007. At the same time as those rules are rescinded, the Council shall adopt rules that are identical to the rules adopted by the Council that were in effect prior to January 1, 2007, and were codified in Chapter 3701-29 of the Administrative Code, except the rules in that Chapter that established requirements for separation distances from a water table and soil absorption requirements. Instead, a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health shall adopt standards establishing requirements for separation distances from a water table and soil absorption requirements based on the water table and soils in the applicable health district for purposes of the installation and operation of household sewage treatment systems and small flow on-site sewage treatment systems in the applicable health district.

The rescission and adoption of rules under this division are not subject to section 119.03 of the Revised Code. However, the Public Health Council shall file the rules in accordance with section 119.04 of the Revised Code. Upon that filing, the rules take immediate effect.

(B) A local board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health may adopt standards for use in the health district that are more stringent than the rules adopted under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section, provided that the board of health or authority having the duties of a board of health in adopting such standards considers the economic impact of those standards on property owners, the state of available technology, and the nature and economics of the available alternatives. If a board of health or authority having the duties of a board of health adopts standards that are more stringent than the rules adopted under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section, the board or authority shall send a copy of the standards to the Department of Health.

(C)(1) A board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health shall approve or deny the use of household sewage treatment systems and small flow on-site sewage treatment systems in the applicable health district. In approving or denying a household sewage treatment system or a small flow on-site sewage treatment system for use in the health district, the board or authority shall consider the economic impact of the system on property owners, the state of available technology, and the nature and economics of the available alternatives, ensure that a system will not create a public health nuisance, and require a system to comply with the requirements established in divisions (C)(2) and (3) of this section.

(2) Notwithstanding any rule adopted by the Director of Health or the Public Health Council or standard adopted by a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health governing the installation and operation of sewage treatment systems, a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health shall ensure that the design and installation of a soil absorption system prevents public health nuisances. To the extent determined necessary by a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health, a sewage treatment system that is installed after the effective date of this section as enacted by Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly shall not discharge to a ditch, stream, pond, lake, natural or artificial waterway, drain tile, other surface water, or the surface of the ground unless authorized by a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit issued under Chapter 6111. of the Revised Code and rules adopted under it. In addition, a sewage treatment system shall not discharge to an abandoned well, a drainage well, a dry well or cesspool, a sinkhole, or another connection to ground water. As a condition to the issuance of a permit to operate a system, a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health shall require a service contract for any sewage treatment system that is subject to an NPDES permit to the extent required by the Environmental Protection Agency. If classified as a class V injection well, a household sewage treatment system serving a two- or three-family dwelling or a small flow on-site sewage treatment system shall comply with 40 C.F.R. 144, as published in the July 1, 2005, Code of Federal Regulations and with the registration requirements established in rule 3745-34-13 of the Administrative Code.

(3) Notwithstanding any rule adopted by the Director of Health or the Public Health Council or standard adopted by a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health governing the installation and operation of household sewage treatment systems, all septic tanks, other disposal component tanks, dosing tanks, pump vaults, household sewage disposal system holding tanks and privy vaults, or other applicable sewage disposal system components manufactured after the effective date of this section as enacted by Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly and used in this state shall be watertight and structurally sound.

(4) For purposes of division (C) of this section, "economic impact" means all of the following with respect to the approval or denial of a household sewage treatment system or small flow on-site sewage treatment system, as applicable:

(a) The cost of a proposed system;

(b) The cost of an alternative system that will not create a public health nuisance;

(c) A comparison of the costs of repairing a system as opposed to replacing the system with a new system;

(d) The value of the dwelling or facility, as applicable, that the system services as indicated in the most recent tax duplicate.

(D)(1) Notwithstanding any rule adopted by the Director of Health or the Public Health Council governing the installation and operation of household sewage treatment systems, a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health may establish and collect fees for the purposes of this section.

(2) In addition to the fees that are authorized to be established under division (D)(1) of this section, there is hereby levied an application fee of twenty-five dollars for a sewage treatment system installation permit. A board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health shall collect the fee on behalf of the Department of Health and forward the fee to the Department to be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the Sewage Treatment System Innovation Fund, which is hereby created. Not more than seventy-five per cent of the money in the Fund shall be used by the Department to administer the sewage treatment system program, and not less than twenty-five per cent of the money in the Fund shall be used to establish a grant program in cooperation with boards of health to fund the installation and evaluation of new technology pilot projects. In the selection of the pilot projects, the Director of Health shall consult with the Sewage Treatment System Technical Advisory Committee created in section 3718.03 of the Revised Code.

(E) Not later than one year after the installation of a household sewage treatment system, a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health shall inspect the system to ensure that it is not a public health nuisance.

(F) The Department of Health may file an injunctive action against a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health that allows a household sewage treatment system or small flow on-site sewage treatment system to cause a public health nuisance, provided that the Department provides reasonable notice to the board or authority and allows for the opportunity to abate the nuisance prior to the action.

(G) The Environmental Protection Agency shall not require a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health to enter into a memorandum of understanding or any other agreement with the Agency regarding the issuance of NPDES permits for off-lot sewage treatment systems. Instead, a representative of a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health may meet with a person who intends to install such a system to determine the feasibility of the system and refer the person to the Agency to secure an NPDES permit for the system if needed. The Environmental Protection Agency, within ninety days or as quickly as possible after the effective date of this section as enacted by Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly, shall seek a revision to the general NPDES permit, issued pursuant to the federal Water Pollution Control Act as defined in section 6111.01 of the Revised Code, in order not to require a memorandum of understanding with a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health and that allows a property owner to seek coverage under the general NPDES permit for purposes of this division. A board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health voluntarily may enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Environmental Protection Agency to implement the general NPDES permit. In the interim, the Agency shall work with boards of health or authorities having the duties of boards of health and with property owners in order to facilitate the owners' securing an NPDES permit in counties without a memorandum of understanding.

(H) Notwithstanding any rule adopted by the Director of Health or the Public Health Council governing the installation and operation of household sewage treatment systems, a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health that, prior to the effective date of this section, has obtained authority from the Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate small flow on-site sewage treatment systems may continue to regulate such systems on and after the effective date of this section as enacted by Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly. A board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health that has not obtained such authority may request the authority from the Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency in the manner provided by law.

(I) Because the rules adopted by the Public Health Council under section 3718.02 of the Revised Code that were effective on January 1, 2007, have been rescinded by operation of this section, the references to those rules in section 3718.021 of the Revised Code are not operable. Instead, notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the Director of Health or the Public Health Council, as applicable, shall provide for the implementation of section 3718.021 of the Revised Code in the rules that are required to be adopted under division (A) of this section.

(J) The Department of Health in cooperation with a board of health or the authority having the duties of a board of health shall assess the familiarity of the board's or authority's staff with the best practices in the use of sewage treatment systems and conduct appropriate training to educate the board's or authority's staff in those best practices and in the use of any new sewage treatment system technology that is recommended for use by the Sewage Treatment System Technical Advisory Committee created in section 3718.03 of the Revised Code.

(K)(1) As used in this section, "household sewage treatment system," "small flow on-site sewage treatment system," and "sewage treatment system" have the same meanings as in section 3718.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) For the purposes of this section, "household sewage treatment system" is deemed to mean "household sewage disposal system" as necessary for the operation of this section.

(3) For purposes of this section, a public health nuisance shall be deemed to exist when an inspection conducted by a board of health documents odor, color, or other visual manifestations of raw or poorly treated sewage and either of the following applies:

(a) Water samples exceed five thousand fecal coliform counts per one hundred milliliters (either MPN or MF) in two or more samples when five or fewer samples are collected or in more than twenty per cent of the samples when more than five samples are taken.

(b) Water samples exceed five hundred seventy-six E. Coli counts per one hundred milliliters in two or more samples when five or fewer samples are collected or in more than twenty per cent of the samples when more than five samples are taken.

(L) Neither the Director of Health or the Public Health Council shall adopt rules prior to July 1 December 31, 2009, that modify or change the requirements established by this section.

(M) This section expires on the effective date of the rules that are to be adopted under section 3718.02 of the Revised Code when that section becomes operational on July 1 December 31, 2009, pursuant to Section 120.01 of this act Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly.

Sec. 120.05. Sections 120.03 and 120.04 of Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly take effect on July 1 December 31, 2009.

Section 2. That existing Sections 120.01, 120.02, and 120.05 of Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly are hereby repealed.

Section 3. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is that provisions of law that were suspended by the enactment of Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th General Assembly are scheduled to be reinstated on July 1, 2009, and the extension of the suspension and of temporary provisions governing household and small flow on-site sewage treatment systems is necessary to provide time for the General Assembly to craft new requirements pertaining to those systems. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.